A Walk in the Park
by f1a5h
Summary: Three young guests at Walt Disney World find themselves in another world; a grander Magic Kingdom where the many characters created by the Disney company reside. However, the villains at the park are planning to escape to the real world, and if they succeed, the three young guests may not have a home to return to.
1. Alone in the Park?

_**Foreward:**_

_Originally written as fanfiction for the Kingdom Keepers novels, but after a few revisions, (I think) it's far-enough removed from the series to be considered simply a "Disney" fanfic. I'd like to hear what you think._

* * *

**Chapter 1**

The sun was setting on Walt Disney World as the Wells family made their way towards the front gates.

"...but I think the best part was the ride with the pirates!" Leah said.

Zachary Wells (or Zack, as he preferred to be called) watched as his five-year-old sister held the hands of his parents. Though she seemed to be brimming with energy even after the long day in the park, he knew she'd fall asleep over dinner. It was practically her first visit, after all. He'd been wiped out after his, and he'd been twice her age.

At that moment, he felt a somewhat unpleasant sensation. "Uh...Dad?" he muttered, tapping on his father's shoulder.

"What is it, Zack?" his father responded, turning to look over his shoulder at his son.

"I need to use the bathroom," Zack answered, eyes darting towards City Hall.

His father nodded, leaning over to whisper in his wife's ear. She nodded, and they started walking over towards a bench.

Zack walked into the bathroom just to meet eyes with a blue-eyed, fair-skinned individual. He looked about fourteen, just his age, and his hair was brown.

He did a double-take. Zack was looking in a mirror.

He grumbled to himself and did his business quickly, wasted little time washing his hands, and walked back out. However, Zack got distracted once more.

Something bright flew right in front of Zack's face. He backed up almost involuntarily. The bright thing was about ten feet away and very small. It looked to him like a big glowing butterfly. It was also fluttering steadily across Main Street.

His curiosity getting the better of him, Zack started running quickly after the strange-looking creature. He stumbled around several people, apologizing profusely when he felt as though he'd stepped on a foot. He stopped, realizing he'd lost whatever it was he'd been chasing.

Zack came to his senses suddenly, turning to cross the street again.

It was empty.

Zack stood there, feeling particularly shocked. "Hello?!" he shouted, stepping into the middle of the street.

"Hey," said a voice.

Zack jumped; the place looked so empty he hadn't expected a response at all. He turned around. There was still nobody in the street. "Who's there?" he asked, stepping forward.

"Up here," the voice said again.

Zack looked up.

On top of the building sat someone a year or two younger than Zack. He leaned over, and Zack got a better perspective of what he looked like. The boy was red haired, and wore a green cap that matched his tunic and pants. Near his head floated the winged, glowing thing that Zack had followed.

Without warning, he jumped. Zack closed his eyes and started to turn, not wishing to see the result. However, when all he heard was two light footsteps, he opened his eyes.

The boy now stood in front of him, and it was incredibly obvious who he was.

"Who are you?" asked Peter Pan himself, taking a step closer to him and looking up at his face.

Zack looked down just slightly to make eye contact. "Who am I?" he restated.

Peter looked him up and down. "You don't know who you are? Haven't you got a name or something?"

"Oh, no, you misunderstand," Zack said, shaking his head. "My name is Zack."

"Good," he said. "I'm Peter."

"I know."

"Really? Who told you?" asked Peter. folding his arms.

"Nobody," he said. "I've just, uh...heard of you."

Peter narrowed his eyes. "How did you get here?"

Zack was starting to feel a little bit nervous. Pan's voice sounded accusatory. "I just followed...Tinker Bell."

"Tink?" Peter asked, turning around.

The butterfly-winged light flew down, and Zack's assumption was confirmed. It was easy for him to see that though her wings did resemble a butterfly's, the fairy had a distinctly human shape.

"Where'd this guy come from?" Peter asked her, gesturing towards Zack.

Tinker Bell made a jingling noise, but Peter seemed to get more from it than Zack did. He responded in a whisper, to which the fairy jingled again.

"So, you're from the other side," Peter said, turning back to Zack.

"I don't know what you mean," Zack confessed. "I was here, in the park. It was crowded, there were loads of people around, you know...and there she was," he continued, gesturing to Tinker Bell. "I followed her, naturally, and here I am. In an empty park."

Peter nodded. "That sounds like the other side to me," he said. "Well, let's see...there were some things we were supposed to do if someone came through from the other side. It might have involved taking you prisoner."

Zack stepped back in alarm. "Are you serious?!" he asked.

"No," Peter said, shaking his head with a bit of a laugh. "I just said that to freak you out. Tink, what was that plan again?"

Tinker Bell responded with more bell sounds.

Peter nodded. "Oh, yeah. You've got those whaddayacall'ems, right?"

"Huh?" was all Zack responded.

"Now believe me, I've been told about these things before..." Peter looked around to make sure it was just the three of them, "but between you and me, I don't like to remember stuff. You know those things that say they care about you a whole lot but try to persuade you to grow up. There's usually two of them?"

"Parents?" Zack offered.

"Yeah, got any of those?" Peter asked.

"Yeah," Zack said, nodding.

"Okay, so we've got to limit the time we take to do this..." Peter muttered. "You wanna go for a look around?"

Zack's eyes widened. Peter Pan was offering to give him a tour of the Magic Kingdom. That sort of thing didn't happen often at all. "You bet," he answered.

"Okay, follow close!" Peter said as he took flight again, starting to lead off towards the castle.

Zack started running right after him, excited to find out what the evening would bring.


	2. Poppins and Pirates

**Chapter 2**

* * *

Zack ran harder to catch up with Peter, breathing hard. It seemed to take longer than ever to go down Main Street. It certainly didn't take this long walking with his family.

"Peter!" he shouted, starting to slow down.

The boy stopped in midair, floating back down. "Something wrong?"

Zack rested his hands on his knees. "Just...a little tired." His mouth felt dry. "Do you know where I can get some water?"

Peter held up a finger. "Wait here," he said, gliding low towards one of the storefronts.

"Thanks," Zack called after him, sitting down on a nearby bench.

Since Peter had gone off, he had some time to himself. He forced himself to organize his jumbled thoughts._ Number one,_ he thought to himself. _How come the park looks so big?_

Though mostly everything in the Magic Kingdom looked big, he knew that most of the buildings used forced perspective to acheive that look. These buildings didn't _look_ three stories tall; they _were_ three stories tall. Peter said that he came from the other side. If it really was a matter of crossing between two different worlds (which seemed plausible to Zack at this point), how different could it possibly be here?

_Okay, number two_, he continued in his head. _How come the park looks so_ empty?

As far as Zack could tell, there were only three people in the park. Himself, Peter Pan, and Tinker Bell. But it wasn't possible that they were here on their own...was it?

The prospect of being alone in the parks disappeared when he heard the singing.

It wasn't like a choir, or a band, or any sort of arranged singing at all. It was more like the singing anyone might do when they were on their own, going about their business. The voice sounded as though it belonged to a woman.

And, as Zack found out when he turned to look, it wasn't just any woman, either.

Her dark hair appeared short, but that was only because it was pulled up and hidden in her hat. She wore a coat, and carried a closed umbrella. She basically looked ordinary, but unmistakable. She stopped her singing as she came close to Zack. "Excuse me, young man," she said.

"Yes?" Zack answered.

"Are you waiting for someone here?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am," he said, slightly dumbfounded. "A, um, friend just went to get us some water."

"Well, that's good," said the woman. "You look absolutely dehydrated. It would do you well."

She started walking again. Zack turned to face the other direction. "Hold on, ma'am," he said.

The woman stopped, turning on her heels to face him. "Yes?"

"Are you Mary Poppins?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yes, that's my name."

"Like, the real, actual, Mary Poppins? The 'practically-perfect-in-every-way' nanny?"

"Is that what people say about me?" asked Mary. "Isn't that sweet?"

Zack nodded. "I suppose so," he said.

"What's your name then, young man?"

Zack cleared his throat. It didn't seem right to give Mary Poppins his nickname. "Zachary, ma'am."

Mary did a small curtsy. "Pleasure to meet you," she said. "Have a wonderful evening!" With that, she turned and continued walking once more.

"You too," Zack said. For some reason, that had felt just plain unusual.

Peter flew back less than a minute later. He looked down the street. "So, you met Miss Poppins, huh?"

"Yeah," Zack said.

"She's pretty nice," he said thoughtfully, "for an adult. Oh, yeah," Peter said, handing him a bottle of water. "Here."

Zack muttered a "Thank you," and opened it, taking a sip._  
_

"Come on, let's go!" he said, taking off.

Slightly rested, Zack followed him.

* * *

As they came close to the castle, Zack could see something very clearly; it was huge. He whistled in astonishment.

"What?" Peter asked, looking back at Zack, then up at the castle. "Oh. Isn't there a castle on the other side?"

"Yeah, but-" Zack cut himself off. "Other side of what?"

"You'll see," Peter said.

Zack didn't say anything for a moment. "Everything's a lot bigger," he said, touching the stony castle wall. "What's it like inside?"

"Oh, you'll see."

"Is that all you're going to say?"

"Nah."

Zack fell silent again, but not for long. "Are there a lot of you, here in the park?

"You'll see," Peter said, trying very hard to stifle a laugh.

Zack rolled his eyes, actually trying not to laugh a bit himself.

After a short while, they walked around behind the castle. Two-story fairy-tale houses were all over the place, and the carousel sat in the center of a sort of town square. All in all, it looked very similar to what Zack remembered.

"Here we are!" said Peter, making a wide, sweeping motion with his hand. "Fantasyland. Pretty neat, huh?"

"Oh, yeah," Zack said, looking all around the town square as he stepped out. Movement caught his eye, and he turned just in time to see somebody - on a second floor window way down the street - slam their window shutters.

The sounds of shouting met his ears, as well as more shutter-slamming.

Peter, who had been standing behind Zack until now, ran up ahead. "Oh, no," he grumbled, following Zack's line of sight. "It's the pirates."

Two men, one with a jacket and a sort of goatee, one in a vest and a fez, and a lady in a purple dress, were on the run from a group of pirates.

"No way," Zack said, looking at the spectacle. "Are they...?"

"Yep," Peter said. "And they probably need help."

Aladdin, Flynn Rider, and Rapunzel were running for the carousel as fast as they could. Flynn seemed to be stowing something in his jacket.

"_I told you not to take the map!_" Aladdin yelled, bringing up the rear.

"Well, maybe if they didn't leave stuff in plain sight, I wouldn't have been tempted!" Flynn shouted from the front, raising his voice only to be heard over the band of angry pirates.

Rapunzel said nothing, but expressed her frustration by whacking the next pirate to come close to them with a skillet.

The three were chased up the steps to the carousel. They turned around, unable to flee any further.

Pan flew over the pirates and landed right on top of a stone in which the hilt of a sword was sticking out. "Well, what have we here?" he asked in a raised voice, looking down on the pirates like they were his audience rather than a bunch of rowdy lowlifes. "A bunch of nasty...smelly...pirates."

One pirate took two steps forward as the others moved back a bit. Aladdin nudged Flynn and pointed him out, muttering something.

"Forgive our intrusions," said the pirate, bowing low, "but I believe something of mine has been stolen."

"'Our's!'" shouted a pirate in the back.

The pirate in front ignored the statement. "A map to a very valuable treasure, to be precise. If you were to return it, I'm sure aggressions would cease."

"Finders, keepers!" Flynn shouted.

Aladdin discreetly handed Peter the map.

Pan through it to the pirate as Flynn patted himself down, trying to figure out how and when Aladdin had taken the map.

Flynn walked out in front of the stone, looking mildly dejected. "Now, Mr. Sparrow, if you'll leave us in peace-"

"Captain," Jack Sparrow cut in. "Captain Jack Sparrow. Come now, boys. We've got treasures to find."

As the pirates departed for their next escapade, Zack walked up to the four who'd stood their ground against them.

He cleared his throat. "Er...hello," he said, lifting a hand and waiting slightly.

All of them, who'd just seconds before started talking among themselves, stopped and looked at him. Zack suddenly felt very uncomfortable.

Rapunzel responded first. "Hi!" she said, stepping over. "I'm Rapunzel."

Starting to get a grip of himself around these 'characters,' he answered with "Nice to meet you. I'm Zack," while also managing to offer a handshake. Immediately, he felt awkward again, like he was supposed to bow or something instead.

"Nice to meet you, too," Rapunzel said, shaking his hand.

As Aladdin and Flynn started introducing themselves, Zack felt the awkward feeling deflating. He felt more like he was meeting normal people, rather than a bunch of famous actors.

"I'm showing the kid around the place," Peter said, gesturing to Zack. "You guys want to come along?"

"Nah, me and Rapunzel have somewhere to be," said Flynn. "Sorry."

"Maybe next time!" Rapunzel put in.

"Oh, well," said Peter. "See you later!"

"Goodbye!"

"Bye," muttered Zack as they walked away.

Now it was only Zack, Peter, and Aladdin sitting around the Sword in the Stone.

Zack looked up at the castle again. "Can we go up there?" he asked, pointing at the highest tower.

"I'd love to take you up!" Peter said, definitely not sincerely. "But, see, there's someone up there. Whoever it is barred the third floor up off completely."

"Did anyone get trapped?" Zack asked.

Aladdin answered now. "If anyone had, we would have dealt with it by now."

Zack didn't seem satisfied with this answer, but before he could press further, Tinker Bell had flown up to Peter.

"Oh, hey," said Peter. "I didn't even notice you were gone!"

She landed on his shoulder and seemed to whisper in his ear. Peter's eyebrows immediately jumped up.

"We need to head up to Gaston's Tavern _now_," he said.

"What's going on?" Aladdin asked, while Zack simply mouthed '_Gaston?_' with a nervous expression.

"Tink found another outsider," Peter said, starting to take off. "Problem is, _she_ found _them_ first." He started flying off, keeping near the ground.

Aladdin started off after Peter, but not before casting a glance over his shoulder at Zack. "Come on!" he urged, speeding up.

Zack, with barely a second thought, tore off after them.


	3. Finding Linda

**Chapter 3**

Keeping pace with Peter and Aladdin, Zack thought hard about was was to come next. He was starting to brim with questions, but now seemed like a terrible time to ask them.

He bumped into Aladdin, who had stopped short. Both of them stumbled, and Zack dusted himself off.

They had come to a dead end, resembling a cul-de-sac with a fountain in the center. The buildings looked to Zack like they were about 17th-18th century (he couldn't tell anyone for sure - he was no history buff). A wide, two-story building stood opposite them. The lights inside were bright, and shouts of laughter could be heard inside.

"What's going on?" Zack asked. "The hurry you were in, I thought something terrible was going down." It looked like a normal merry gathering was going on inside.

"You got pretty hyped up when we said 'Gaston'" Peter said.

He was right. Zack had felt an adrenaline rush when the villain's name was mentioned. In truth, he remembered several scenes from Beauty and the Beast - his favorite Disney film - and was reminded of how Gaston went from oaf to monster.

Zack was about to respond when he noticed Aladdin was already nearing the door.

"Let's go," Peter said, walking after him.

Zack followed, entering the tavern.

It was not unlike most restaurants Zack had visited with his family. It smelled faintly of food, and another scent that must have been beer. There were a few people sitting quietly at tables here and there, but everyone seemed to be crowded near the right end of the tavern. Zack stood on his toes to get a better look.

There was a large gathering of people towards the right. A game of darts was taking place, and the crowd was interested for only one reason. A tall man in a red jacket - clearly Gaston - had stepped up to throw.

Zack continued to scan the tavern. Aladdin and Peter appeared to have melted into the crowd, trying to get Gaston's attention. After a moment, Zack saw what he was looking for.

The figure watching the game of darts from a distance stood out for a few reasons: The first being that she seemed to be the only girl in the entire pub. Secondly, she didn't look like she was much older than Zack. Finally, while everyone else was dressed in old-fashioned European clothes (exempting, of course, Peter, Aladdin, and himself), she wore cargo pants and a Harry Potter sweatshirt.

Zack discreetly moved around the crowd and sat down at the same table. "How'd you get here?" he muttered, without looking her direction.

The girl jumped in her seat, turning quickly to look at Zack. "Whoa, man, you scared the heck out of me," she said, eyes darting all over him. "Are you another outsider?"

"Yeah," Zack said, nodding.

"Well, look at us!" the girl said. "Livin' the dream, huh?"

Zack pressed his lips together. The experience was a whole new thing, but he wouldn't exactly describe it the way the girl did. "I guess you could put it that way."

"What's your name?" she asked, turning in her seat to fully face him.

"Zack," he answered. "You?"

"Linda."

Zack just nodded. "How did you get here?"

"Well, me and my family were just sitting down for dinner, actually, and-" Linda stopped dead. Her hand tightened around the edge of the table. "Ohmygod," she muttered.

"Linda?" asked Zack, leaning forward.

But she stood up suddenly, outright knocking over her own chair. "Is that...?"

Zack followed her line of sight. She appeared to be looking in the direction of Gaston, who was talking - no, not talking, _arguing_ - with Peter and Aladdin.

Linda made the smallest of noises somewhere between a gasp and a squeak. "This can't be real," she whispered.

"I've been telling myself the same thing," Zack muttered. "I'm still considering the possibility that this is a dream, in fact-"

Linda ran off in their direction, knocking past people and tables.

Zack followed after quickly, taking care to avoid the same people that Linda had shoved past. By the time he'd gotten there, Linda was pulling at Peter's sleeve, and a vein was pulsing in Gaston's temple.

Unfortunately, he didn't get to find out what everyone was saying. Gaston pulled back his fist and swung hard at Aladdin, who ducked and hit his would-be assailant right in the stomach.

Gaston didn't flinch, knocking Aladdin right into a table.

Linda, Peter, and Zack all reacted at once, however, not in the same way. Peter ran to pull Aladdin to his feet, Zack took several steps away from Gaston, and Linda had lunged at him.

It wasn't a pretty spectacle. Linda appeared to have gotten behind Gaston and jumped on his back, wrapping her arms around his neck. Aladdin had stood up and gone after them, but a rowdy-looking pub goer had attacked him. Peter appeared to be in a similar position.

Zack threw himself under a table as a full on brawl started, nobody bothering with who they attacked. He saw a large pair of leather boots stumble by, another pair of legs dangling down. He reached out, grabbed hold of the leg, and pulled hard. The man came crashing down. It had been Gaston and Linda, the latter crawling out from underneath the former.

Zack stood up and ran over next to her. Peter and Aladdin had done the same.

"Let's get out of here!" Aladdin said.

"You don't have to tell us twice," Linda said.

They all started running for the door, but Zack felt himself get grabbed by the collar and hoisted up.

He looked down slightly, then to his left. Gaston had a hold of him, and Linda was suspended in his other hand.

Gaston took several deep breaths, like a bull in a rage. "All right! What have _you two..._" He held them up slightly higher, "...have to say for yourselves?"

"Thanks for the Diet Coke," Linda gasped.

Gaston pressed his lips together, and he started walking for the door. He kicked it open, throwing Linda out, then Zack.

"_Don't let me find any of you back here!_" he shouted, slamming the door.

Zack lay there for a moment. He had an unpleasant headache, but other than that, he had actually come out pretty well.

"Ow," Linda muttered as she sat up.

Zack felt himself being gently pulled to his feet. "Thanks," he said, rubbing his head.

"Are you guys alright?" asked Aladdin.

"Yeah," said Linda. "Fine."

Zack only nodded.

"I swear," Peter said, "if we'd had noticed you'd been caught, we'd have turned right around."

"It's okay," Zack said.

Linda scowled. "That guy has some serious temper issues."

"Don't take it personally," Aladdin said.

"I won't," Linda said, pulling out her hairband. "I already knew he was a huge-" She called Gaston several horrible names that Zack's parents would have grounded him for. "It just didn't become apparent until about two minutes ago."

"Well, I was just showing Zack around," Peter said. "You guys wanna go anywhere else?"

"Yeah," Linda said. "Let's go to the castle."

"What'd you wanna go there for?" Peter asked.

"I want to find out who's up in the tower, and I want to put a stop to them," Linda said. "I mean, if it's someone with an evil plan. Otherwise we can just say 'hi.'"

"I dunno," Aladdin said. "We don't want to get you guys into any more trouble."

"Oh, for Pete's sake," Linda said. "That stuff in your movies actually happened, right?"

"Er...yeah," Aladdin said. He appeared to be wondering why Linda was bringing up that point. Zack certainly was.

Linda was silent for a moment. "I was gonna make a point, but I just forgot it," she said sheepishly.

Peter groaned.

"Can you blame me, though? I mean," she gestured at the two. "You're, like, bigger than celebrities back home. I'm amazed that I can talk in complete sentences. Anyways," she continued, "if it turns out to be dangerous, you have what it takes to keep yourselves and us safe. Not that we really need it, right?" Linda looked back and glared at Zack, and that stare seemed to say _you'd better say 'yes._'

Zack shrugged. "I guess so."

Linda looked a little bit miffed, but she turned her head back to Aladdin and Peter. "What do you think? Can we go see?"

"I think that sounds like a good idea," Zack said.

Aladdin didn't say anything for a moment, but he started slowly nodding his favor after a moment.

"Ugh," Peter muttered. "Fine."


	4. A Chilly Reception

**Chapter 4**

* * *

As they began walking towards the castle again, Tinker Bell started flying down toward Peter again.

After just a few seconds of quiet noises from them, Peter went, "oh, _again?!_"

He stopped short and, since he was leading the way, so did everyone else.

"What's going on?" asked Linda, looking over Aladdin's shoulder at Peter.

Peter turned around. "Apparently, Tink found someone else while we were in the tavern," he said. "Over in Liberty Square." He looked up at the sky, which was turning from a brilliant orange to lavender. "I think I should go find them and bring them to the castle. Faster that way, you know?"

Everyone nodded, except Linda, who looked betrayed.

Peter seemed to have noticed this, because he said, "Don't worry! I'll be back soon, no trouble. I just want to find them before dark. Al, you can take these guys, right?"

"Of course!" Aladdin said.

"Great. See ya 'round!" Peter said as he took to the air.

The three of them continued towards the castle on foot.

"I wonder what my parents are doing right now..." Zack muttered, looking down at his feet.

"I wouldn't worry about them," Linda said. "What with the vibes I'm getting, I wouldn't be surprised if every hour we spend here, a minute passes at home."

Zack glared at Linda, but Aladdin corrected her. "It doesn't work that way."

"What?" Linda said, surprised. "How does this place work, then? Isn't it some sort of alternate universe?"

"Science fiction fan?" Zack asked almost scornfully, looking grumpy about how Linda dismissed his parents.

"A huge one," Linda muttered back, clearly missing his grumpy attitude.

"Kind of," Aladdin answered Linda. "Not how you think of it, though."

"Please explain, then," Linda said.

"I can't," Aladdin said. "I don't know how it works. I don't think anyone does. I can "

Linda looked mighty unsatisfied.

"Maybe we'll find out more, huh?" Zack said to her.

"Maybe," said Linda, though she sounded like she doubted it. "Let's get to the castle and see from there."

As she said this, they had come to the carousel. They didn't wait around, continuing inside, through a small chamber, and into the ballroom.

It should be said that Zack had never been inside "his" Cinderella Castle, so he walked in with no preconceptions. Linda, on the other hand, constantly visited the Magic Kingdom (occasionally by herself), and had been inside just once, having dinner with her family.

Both of them were equally impressed.

It was vast, to say the least. The ballroom went up at least two stories, was constructed of stone, wood, and gold, and adorned with great carpets and tapestries. A chandelier hung in the center of the room.

To either side were large staircases that led out of sight. Zack made the assumption that they led up to second floor wings.

"Wicked," Linda said, stepping out slowly towards the center of the room. "This is just...amazing."

"And how," Zack said.

Zack suddenly realized, though the ballroom was empty, there was much to be heard. Faint chattering, singing, loud thumps, and more echoed lightly around from the sides and from above. "How many people live here?" he asked.

"Not many," said Aladdin. "A lot moved out not long ago, actually."

"Why's that?" Zack asked. Linda was contributing nothing to the conversation, meanwhile; she seemed to be dancing a waltz by herself.

"Well, Belle and the Beast got their own castle, up north from here-"

"The Beast?" Zack cut in. "Why do you call him that? Isn't he human?"

"No."

"How come?"

"His story isn't over," Aladdin said simply.

"Oh," Zack said. "Sorry for interrupting. Do go on."

Aladdin nodded. "It's fine. I understand that you're curious. Anyway, they moved out, some people live in the other parts of the park, and a lot of people go to the other parks."

Linda took in a sharp breath. "You mean the other parks are like this, too?!"

Aladdin nodded.

Linda tried to say something, but it came out as more of a joyful shout.

A doorway near the staircase opened up, and a slightly older man in a suit leaned out. "Is everyone okay out here?" he called.

"Yeah, everything's fine!" Aladdin called back.

"Good," the man responded. "We were having a lecture. I'd hate to have spoiled it with someone having a fit or something." He waved, then shut the door.

"Who was that?" Linda immediately asked.

"Oh, he's new," Aladdin said. "He told me his name was Phil. He's moving to Hollywood Studios in a couple of-"

"Phil...?" Linda asked. "Like...Phil _Coulson_, agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

"I think so," Aladdin answered.

"Holy-"

"Can we head up? Zack asked. "I thought you were gonna show us-"

"Everything," Linda said. "Please, show us everything."

Aladdin grinned. "I think we can save 'everything' for another time. There's just not enough time."

"Then let's see what we can," Linda said. "To the tower?"

"To the tower," Zack and Aladdin agreed in unison.

Linda immediately took off running before Zack and Aladdin had even started walking. This only convinced Zack to start running and, by the sound of it, Aladdin had followed suit.

The latter two came up the stairs to find Linda on the floor, under a small upturned table. A flowerpot lay smashed next to a young woman in a nightgown. Linda had collided with her when she turned the corner, and both had fallen over.

Aladdin helped up the woman as Zack ran over to Linda, who was already standing up.

When the two of them turned to Aladdin and the woman, Zack saw that the woman was breathing as hard as the rest of them. She and Linda had both been running when they'd hit each other.

"Cinderella?" asked Aladdin. "What's going on?"

"Cinderella?" Zack repeated under his breath, surprised that he hadn't recognized her at first sight. He felt a light buzz in his head, accompanied by a cold feeling in his stomach.

"It's...about...the intruder," Cinderella gasped between breaths. "The enchantress that sealed the tower door with ice."

"The Snow Queen!" Linda said, snapping her fingers. "Madam, I think your intruder is a friend."

"I know," Cinderella said, the urgency in her voice rising. "But Sora doesn't."

Linda gasped. "You guys have _Sora_ here? That's just amazing! I didn't think that anyone from Kingdom Hearts would be here-" She stopped. "Oh no."

Zack narrowed his eyes, confused. "Who's-"

"Sora thinks Elsa's a villain," Linda muttered, drawing lines in the air, "Elsa loses control under pressure. Sora fights villains..." Her eyes widened. "But that means-"

"Exactly!" Aladdin said, running around the corner. "There's no time to lose!"

And no time was lost by Linda, who was hot on his heels.

Feeling absolutely flabbergasted, Zack started running after them, but not before he turned and spoke to Cinderella. "We'll come right back. I swear, everything will work out."

* * *

_A teenage boy, wielding a large, blunt-looking object, had entered the tower. Elsa turned to face him, hands held in a defensive posture._

_The boy held his weapon in a threatening pose, standing just a few yards away. Elsa didn't move, despite her racing heart._

_Suddenly, the boy threw his weapon down. "Who are you?" he asked._

_Elsa was silent, staring at him with wide eyes._

_The boy held his hands in the air, palms open. "I'm not gonna hurt you," he said. "I'm here to help, I promise."_

_"I'm...Elsa," the queen said hesitantly._

_"Sora," the boy said, offering her his hand to shake._

_She shrank away from him as if he'd aimed a punch at her, and he immediately took his hand back. "Sorry," he said._

_"It's fine," Elsa said. "I-"_

_But she didn't finish, seizing up suddenly._

_"Well, well," said a smooth, villainous voice. "I didn't think we'd ever meet again."_

_A sinister man stepped off of the balcony and into the tower. Sora was amazed he hadn't noticed him before. "Jafar!" he said, reaching his hand out for his weapon, which jumped straight to his hand. "What are you doing here?!"_

_Jafar stopped walking forward. He tilted his head to the side._

_"Don't play dumb," Sora said. "I know that whatever your plan is, it can't be good-" Sora stopped, listening._

_There was a thunderous sound, like several sets of feet ascending the stairs._

_"More are coming," Jafar said. "Kill them. All of them."_

_"No!" Elsa said, turning around and backing up. "There's no way you can make me!" Her hands touched the wall, and ice began to spread from them._

_Jafar merely leaned forward, pointing his snake-head staff directly at Elsa's face. "I told you, kill them all!"_

_Sora lunged forward, swinging his weapon* at Jafar. A frigid blast hit him in the face, knocking him flat._

_Jafar walked back out to the balcony. "I shall be making my leave. You know what to do."_

_Elsa nodded, stepping over to Sora's motionless form._

_Now, however, the door burst open once more..._

* * *

Author's note: I feel as if the ending were a _teeny_ bit rushed, so if it feels that way to anyone, I apologize.

*For those of you who don't follow the Kingdom Hearts series, Sora's weapon resembles a large skeleton key and is referred to as the Keyblade. It sounds lame, but it's actually pretty awesome (just like everything else Disney, huh?).


	5. A New First Impression

**Chapter 5**

* * *

All three of them gasped simultaneously. The sight of Elsa standing over what looked like an unconscious Sora was enough to shock them still.

"Stop it!" Linda shouted.

This was enough to get the attention of both Elsa and Jafar, who had been walking towards the edge of the balcony. Both turned towards the door.

Aladdin reacted first, running at Jafar. Elsa immediately shot an icicle at him, which he dodged by diving.

Linda jumped to his aid, pulling Elsa's hand down and directing her next icicle at the floor. She screamed suddenly, pulling away from Elsa as quickly as possible and shoving her hands under her armpits. "Ow, ow, ow!"

Aladdin got to his feet, just to get whacked into a wall by a well-placed staff-swipe by Jafar. He looked to Zack. "Go get help!" he shouted, standing back up.

Zack surveyed the scene, and time seemed to slow down. Near the balcony, Jafar was approaching the nearly-defenseless Aladdin with a vengeful expression on his face. A few feet ahead of him, to his right, was Linda, who was crouching next to the unconscious Sora. He realized she was picking up the giant key laying next to him. Elsa was approaching Linda, her face expressionless.

Zack didn't feel up to fighting anyone at all. The buzz he'd felt in his head earlier was much worse, and it felt like there was a ball of ice in the pit of his stomach.

On the other hand, if Zack left for help, he'd have to run down the stairs, find someone in the vastness of the castle, and then whoever he found would have to go back up. By the time they returned, Aladdin, Sora, and Linda could all be dead.

Finally, he reacted, running at Jafar. The man turned, and Zack hit his staff. The impact knocked Jafar into the wall and jolted Zack considerably, but he closed his hands around the shaft of the snake staff.

Meanwhile, Linda had lunged for Elsa, swinging the keyblade upwards. Elsa ducked, and Linda kicked her in the stomach. Impressively, Elsa merely skidded back on her feet, placing a hand on the ground to steady herself. She lifted both her hands and sent a hail of ice crystals back in retaliation.

Jafar shook the staff, then pushed outward, throwing Zack to the floor. The boy rolled over, and the butt of Jafar's staff barely missed his back.

Aladdin took the opportunity to throw a punch at Jafar, who responded by striking Aladdin with the staff again. He backed up, and Jafar pointed the head of the staff at Aladdin's face.

"Now, you will answer to me," he said in a dark voice. The rubies that sat in the place of the snake's eyes lit up.

"Ha!"

It wasn't a laugh. It was Linda, delivering a power swipe with Sora's weapon.

Elsa and Aladdin swayed where they stood. Zack scrambled away from Jafar, who was now looking down at the two halves of what had once been his staff, still clutched in his hands. Linda had cleaved it through the middle.

She raised the keyblade, pointing it at Jafar's chin. "Got you," she said, breathing hard.

Jafar looked down at the tip of the blade, eyes like a cornered animal. He suddenly turned and ran, jumping right over the balcony.

Linda and Aladdin both ran over to the edge, looking over the edge. Somehow, there was Jafar, just a tiny figure running in the direction of Tomorrowland.

"How did he survive?!" Linda said in disbelief.

"Someone else broke his fall. He wasn't alone," Aladdin answered.

"Guys?" Zack asked.

They turned around. Zack was bending over Elsa, who'd fallen over.

"Oh no," Linda said.

"Don't worry!" Zack said. "I think she's fine. Point is, we need to get these two downstairs." He gestured to Sora.

"Right," said Aladdin. He picked up Sora like he was a ragdoll, hoisting his arms over his shoulders. It looked as though he was giving him a piggy-back ride, and might have been funny if it weren't so grim.

Zack laughed anyway.

Linda, meanwhile, was just shaking Elsa. "Wake up!" she said, in something of a low whisper.

Elsa stirred slightly.

Linda waved her hand over her shoulder. "Get going!" she told Zack.

"I should show her down," Zack said.

"Yeah? Why?"

"She got you," Zack said, pointedly.

It was true. Ice had grazed Linda's shoulder. Obviously nothing bad (as Linda hadn't complained., but it didn't look great; there was a bloody tear in her clothes.

She touched her hand to it, and it came back stained red. "So?" she asked, wiping it off on her pants.

"I don't think that's all," Zack said, pointing at her hands. "Is that frostbite?"

Linda's hands were red from grabbing on to Elsa, who had apparently sent a wave of cold down her arm when she grabbed on to her.

"Oh. _Ohhh_." Linda said, standing up and sticking her hands in her pockets. "You know what? You're completely right. She'd probably throw herself off the tower or something."

"And you need to get it taken care of, too," Zack said.

Elsa started to move again, this time propping herself up on her hands.

"Move it!" Zack urged, but as it turned out, Linda didn't even need telling. She was already out the door.

He turned his attention back to Elsa, who had gotten up on her knees. She squinted up at Zack. "W-who are you?" she said, a look of confusion on her face.

"Zack," Zack said. He held out a hand to help her up, and she took it. He was actually surprised to find that her hands weren't freezing. "Come on. We need to get with the others."

Elsa pulled herself up. "What happened?" she asked.

Zack held up his hands. "Before I go on, I want to let you know that everyone is definitely fine," he said. This was not quite the truth; he didn't know whether Sora was awake yet, but he couldn't afford to concern Elsa at this point.

Elsa's brow knitted together. "Why are you telling me that?"

Zack waited a moment to break the news. "A sorcerer named Jafar had you under a mind control spell."

Elsa's eyes widened. "Oh...oh, no," she said, her voice starting to break down. "I can't believe I let this happen. I could have caused a disaster!"

"You probably never saw it coming!" Zack said. "Believe me, we have nobody to blame but Jafar."

Elsa took a deep breath, nodding.

"Well, come on," Zack said, gesturing towards the door. "Let's meet up with the others, and maybe on the way you can answer a question for me."

"...Sure," Elsa said.

She followed Zack as he started through the door and down the stairs. Another glance at the door let him see how Sora had gotten in; brute force. He'd simply beaten the door open. Zack honestly wondered why nobody had tried it before.

As they walked down the stairs, Zack breathed a sigh of relief. The feverish buzzing in his head was gone. Then he remembered his question. "What was it like, arriving here in the Magic Kingdom?"

"Funny you should ask," Elsa said. "I woke up one morning, and I knew something was strange."

"Why, what was it?" Zack asked, encouraging Elsa to continue.

"Well, I felt very well-rested," Elsa answered. "I often stay up late attending to business, and every morning, without fail, a servant wakes me up at seven-thirty sharp."

Zack nodded. "Go on, please."

"I left the room," Elsa continued, "and I found myself in a smooth, nearly featureless corridor. I went in the nearest door just to find Anna's room, and there she was, still asleep." She let slip a short laugh, but then her voice hardened. "And then there was Hans."

"What did he do?"

"Oh, he went, 'Queen Elsa?' and I froze his feet to the ground."

Zack laughed.

By now, they had reached the end of the staircase and come out into one of the ornate corridors. Elsa, however, still had more story to tell. "It was around this time that the cast members came along."

"Cast members?" Zack asked, taken by surprise.

"Oh, yes. They came in, woke Anna, and started chipping Hans out of the ice." She paused for a moment. "It's possible we had to be restrained to keep from attacking Hans."

"I'm sure," Zack said, completely serious now.

"Well, they started explaining a whole lot of stuff to us, and then-" But Elsa had stopped. "Where are we going?"

"To meet the others. I-" Zack cut himself off. He realized how lost they were.

Fortunately, this is when Aladdin arrived. He ran up to them, breathing a sigh of relief. "Great, you two are fine," he said. "We were just talking, but we wanted to make sure we had your input before we decided anything."

"Decided what?" Zack asked.

* * *

A few minutes later, they were all seated inside a room lit only by the raging fire at the far end. The seating was possibly the strangest Zack had ever seen.

In front of him sat Cinderella and Aladdin on the couch. To the left, Elsa, on a stool. The two seats nearest the fire sat Sora, who seemed to be right as rain compared to when Zack had first seen him, and Linda, minus her sweatshirt and wearing a bandage over her injured shoulder. Her hands, too, were bandaged around the palms and on one hand's fingers.

And here he was, in his own armchair.

"So, let me make sure I have this clear," Zack said. "You guys believe there's a whole group of villains scheming to escape the park because Jafar hypnotized Elsa?"

"And because we're here," Linda said. "If they're trying to escape to our world, they must be weakening whatever barrier separates us."

Zack nodded. "If that's not the strangest thing I've heard all day..."

"Listen," Aladdin said, leaning over the coffee table. "What we need to decide is how we're gonna handle the situation. I think you guys should go back to your families, and-"

"Wait, wait, wait," Linda said. "You expect me to miss this opportunity to become a hero?"

"What?" Aladdin, Cinderella, and Zack all said in unison. Elsa and Sora sat in uncomfortable silence.

"Life is boring when you're in high school," Linda said. "I'd take almost anything over my current repetitious, boring existence."

Aladdin shook his head. "Listen, this could be really dangerous, I-"

Cinderella stopped him by holding out a hand. "Linda, would you say you're dreaming of something other than your present lot in life?"

"I am," Linda said. "I have been for the longest time, and now that I've seen this place, and apparently it _and_ home are both in danger of being taken over by some of the nastiest, heartless, dangerous people that could exist, do you think I'm gonna wanna go home knowing that, or try and help save it?"_  
_

Cinderella looked over at Aladdin. "You certainly aren't going to try and convince her otherwise, now, are you?"

Aladdin looked conflicted, and he moved to try and change the subject. "What do you think?" he asked, looking to Zack.

Zack considered everything everyone else had said thus far. "I think..." he started, looking around the room.

The tension was so thick, Zack thought it could be cut with a knife.

"...I'm with Linda."

* * *

Dylan Starkey was equally unhappy with his lot in life however, it was because his current lot in life seemed to be 'lost in the empty Hall of Presidents.' It was very unpleasant to him, wandering through the museum showcasing artifacts of U.S. Presidents long past.

After wandering through the exhibits for what seemed like forever, Dylan finally called out. "Hello?"

"Why, hello there, young man," answered a smooth voice.

Dylan jumped, turning in the direction of the voice. "Who's there?" he shouted, backing into a glass case with a _bump_.

"Just a lowly fortune teller," said a man, sitting at an old desk in a darkened corner. "Speaking of which, why don't you pull up a chair and have your's read?" He leaned forward to gesture to the chair in front of the desk, and Dylan got a fairly good look at his face: A dark complexion, penciled mustache, purple eyes, and a suave grin.

"I can't pay you," Dylan said, turning out his front pockets.

"It's on the house."

Dylan narrowed his eyes. "You look familiar," he said shortly.

"I get that a lot," said the man.

Warily, Dyaln stepped forward, pulling the swivel chair out and sitting down without scooting back in.

The man reached under the desk. Dylan immediately stood up again.

"Relax," said the man, pulling out a deck of tarot cards. and showing the backs to Dylan. "There's nothing to worry about.

Dylan nodded. "Right..." he said skeptically. "Okay. Show me what you can do."

The man laughed in such a way that indicated to Dylan that he was definitely not the kind to be trusted. "Believe me, I will..."


	6. Finding Dylan - Escaping Tomorrowland

**Chapter 6**

Zack, Linda, Aladdin, Sora, and Elsa all walked from the castle in a row of five, straight into a starry night in the park. They stopped right around the statue of Walt, silent for just a moment.

"Okay," Zack said. "We could use a plan of action right about now. Any suggestions?"

Without fail, Linda responded immediately. "We'll split into teams. Two of us should go find Peter and the new kid. The rest should go after Jafar. I volunteer to catch up with Peter."

"Me too," said Sora.

"Okay, then, it's decided," Zack said.

"Wait a second," said Linda. "I wasn't finished."

"What is it?" Zack asked.

"Where are we going to find each other again?" Linda asked.

Everyone was silent for a moment.

"There's a spot in Adventureland, right between a beached ship and the Robinson family treehouse. Peter will show you guys the way," Aladdin said. "We'll meet you over there."

"Is that everything?" Zack asked.

Linda thought for a moment, folding her arms. "Yeah," she said.

"Alright, teams, let's break," Zack said. "Good luck, you two." He waved them off, and then he, Elsa, and Aladdin started towards Tomorrowland.

* * *

Peter Pan was in something of a fix. He'd found the newcomer, alright; the problem was, Dr. Facilier had found him first. He could see the two of them through one of the hall's windows. He was slightly relieved; Facilier was not doing anything to the newcomer, at least from his point of view.

The big problem, though, was how they were sitting. The boy had his back to Peter, and Dr. Facilier had a complete view of the windows. When Peter realized this, he immediately sprung away, standing right outside the view from the windows. _Did he see me?!_ Peter couldn't help but wonder to himself. When he heard a loud crashing noise like a chair being knocked over, he knew Facilier had definitely seen him.

* * *

Unlike Peter, Dylan had not been quite on edge. True, Facilier exhibited some red flags. However, he was behaving quite friendly, simply asking him to draw the occasional Tarot card and then telling him what the card meant. Still, Dylan didn't let down his guard.

Suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, Dr. Facilier stopped. He was looking behind Dylan, and his face had become somewhat fearsome.

"Well," Dylan said, standing up. "This has been fascinating, but I think I should go."

"You ain't going anywhere, kid," Facilier said darkly.

Dylan spun around, attempting to run, but he banged his foot into his chair. His sandal was pulled off, the chair fell over, and he had banged nearly all his toes against it. His stumble turned into a fall, and he hit the ground, only to be pulled up by Facilier. He grabbed Dylan by the hair atop his head and pressed something cool against his throat as Peter Pan burst through the front door.

"You wouldn't dare hurt him," Peter said, knife drawn and advancing.

"Wanna try me?" Facilier growled, pulling Dylan's hair a little harder.

Peter stopped, starting to raise his knife. "Let him go," he said, raising both his hands in the air. "I swear, I won't come after you."

"Drop your knife," Dr. Facilier ordered.

Peter did as he was told.

Dr. Facilier lifted the object from Dylan's neck, casting a long shadow across the wall. Dylan could see now that it was a knife, carved from bone. The Shadowman cackled, swinging his knife through the air. His shadow mimicked the motion, falling across Peter's face. Peter recoiled, and when he looked back at the witch doctor, there was a gash on his cheek.

While the knife was not held to his throat, however, Dylan felt like he could move safely. With the foot that still had a shoe, he stomped on Dr. Facilier's own foot, then ran. When he got to Peter, he followed suit.

The door was slammed shut by a shadow before either of them could reach it. They both turned around, completely at the mercy of the Shadowman.

* * *

Meanwhile, Zack was keeping pace with Elsa and Aladdin. They were crossing a strange bridge, spanning the gap between Main Street and Tomorrowland. Above them was a peculiar type of arch.

"That generates a force field," Aladdin said, pointing up. "Every bridge to Tomorrowland has one. It keeps rain from falling on passersby."

"Really?" Zack said.

"The Electric Umbrella at Epcot does the same thing," Elsa said.

Zack looked over at her quizzically. "How do you know that?"

"Oh," Elsa said. "Me and Anna live over there."

"What?!" Zack shouted, stopping short. "Nobody told me!"

"I didn't think it was such a big deal," Elsa confessed.

"Are you kidding me?! That's _huge!_" Zack exclaimed, panting hard. "That means someone brought you over here, so you'd be a...er..." He snapped his fingers, trying to place the name. "A red herring! That's what you were! But then we caught Jafar, and that ruined the plan. The plan, though...what could the plan _be?_"

"Zack, calm down," said Aladdin. "I think you're on to something, but just in case, we need to find out where Jafar is headed before we try anything else."

"You're right..." Zack said, taking a deep breath.

They resumed walking.

Once they reached the middle of a long street, however, Aladdin stopped them. The first thing he did was turn to Zack. "Listen, at the first sign of danger, I want you to run."

"What?" Zack said indignantly.

"Hey, I'm gonna run too. Elsa's the only person with us with any way to defend herself, anyway."

Zack pressed his lips together, thinking about that. "We came kind of underprepared, didn't we?"

"Not quite," Aladdin said, reaching inside his vest, presumably to show Zack whatever he'd brought with him.

He was interrupted, however, by a loud clanging sound. All three heads turned in its direction.

Zack now got a very good look at the street, thanks to the fact that he was now undistracted by conversation or his own thoughts. It was much like the normal Magic Kingdom, with its curved buildings and second-floor "PeopleMover" (or so Zack remembered it being called; it was correctly referred to as the Tomorrowland Transportation System). In the distance, he could see multiple buildings and facilities, along with Space Mountain towering over the surrounding buildings.

However, what had grabbed his (and everyone else's) attention was a sign of motion near the PeopleMover boarding station.

"Stick close," Aladdin warned, starting to walk towards the station.

As the got close, he pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to Zack. "This'll send up a signal for help," he whispered. "Stay behind us."

With that, he and Elsa kept moving. Zack, however, stayed where he was, inspecting the box. It was green, with silver borders and a black button in the 'Classic Mickey' shape.

He looked up suddenly as he heard several loud noises.

Elsa and Aladdin had both stumbled backwards as jets of green light shot out from over a few crates. A small, blue, and very familiar alien jumped out, holding a bright yellow-orange gun in each hand.

Zack immediately jammed his thumb down on the button. A second later, another jet of green light whizzed passed his head. He barely saw it, but he could still feel remnants of the heat.

That shot gave him the motivation. He turned and ran immediately.

The constant barrage of laser fire didn't stop. Zack knew that a single shot would probably fry him completely. _Think! There has to be a way to deal with him!__  
_

Somewhat to his surprise, Elsa figured it out first. She grabbed Zack and pulled him behind a support column.

Zack turned to look on the street. Aladdin had tripped on a ridge or crack in the road and fallen over. Elsa was on top of that, too; in an instant, she had created a huge wall of ice that spanned from one end of the street to the other. It was obviously thick, too; the blasts from Stitch's gun hit the other side, lighting it up but not destroying it.

"Come _on!_" Elsa urged, pulling Zack back out and lifting Aladdin to his feet. "Let's get out of here!"

They ran for the bridge. Zack began to outstrip both of them as they went, but it didn't matter; all three of them hit an invisible wall at the bridge.

Zack had fallen right on his back on impact. "What was _that?!_" he said indignantly.

Aladdin stared at the archway in disbelief. "They were ready for us." He stood up, dusting himself off. "All of them'll be blocked like this."

"You mean we're trapped?" Zack asked.

"No," Aladdin said, looking back down the street. "All we've got to do is get down to the TTS, and then-"

He cut himself off when a wide hole was blasted in the wall of ice. Stitch was standing at the center, lasers at the ready.

"We're trapped," Aladdin said.

"Don't be ridiculous," Zack said, pushing him to the left. "This way!"

They ran off to the left, on a narrow street bordered by walls on one side and water on the other.

* * *

Linda and Sora walked the streets of Liberty Square, looking into every lit window and over every ledge in search of Peter and the newcomer.

"Where in the world can they be?" Linda grumbled after about fifteen minutes of searching.

"Be patient," Sora reassured. "Liberty Square is the smallest part of Magic Kingdom. It won't be long before we find them."

"Oh, boy," Linda said suddenly.

"What is it?" Sora asked, looking in her direction.

"See for yourself," Linda said, pointing across the square.

Despite the flagpoles and the Liberty Bell replica, Sora could easily see that the lights inside the Hall of Presidents were being extinguished.

"Found them," Sora said, breaking into a run that Linda was challenged to keep up with.

When they came to the door, however, their path was blocked; the knob turned but the door didn't budge.

"Let me try," Sora said, lifting his keyblade. A beam of light shot from the tip of it straight into the keyhole, but when Linda tried it, the door still wouldn't open.

Linda swore, giving the door a violent kick.

Something on Sora's wrist buzzed.

"What's that?" Linda asked.

"The others are in trouble. We've got more pressing matters right now, though," Sora said. He backed up, facing the window. "Follow closely," he said, running forward. He jumped, slamming his shoulder into the glass. It gave way, and he fell inside, rolling to his feet.

Linda vaulted over, taking in the scene. Sora was batting away shadow after shadow, while Peter Pan and the newcomer were running towards her.

"You're here!" Peter said.

"Yep," Linda said, glancing over at Sora again. "We just came to meet you, but I guess our timing was better than we thought."

"That's great," Peter said, "but we need to run!"

"I don't think we even need to do that," Linda remarked, nodding her head towards Sora.

He was moving like lightning, jumping to shadows and running his keyblade right through them. Despite the fact that they seemed to be _just_ shadows, they burned up on contact with the Keyblade.

When Sora got close enough, Dr. Facilier took a swing at him with his knife. Sora dodged him _and_ his shadow's slice and knocked it right from his hand with a well-placed blow. While the witch doctor was unbalanced and weaponless, Sora gave him a good swift kick in the chest, knocking him back over his desk. As soon as that was done, he turned on his heel and ran back for the others.

"Come on, the others are in trouble!" Sora urged, jumping back through the empty windowsill.

Everyone followed suit, running (or flying) after Sora.

* * *

_A witch doctor stood at an old-fashioned telephone, dialing a number. He didn't have to wait long for an answer._

_"They got away," he said darkly._

_"Do not wait to take action," said an icy voice on the other end. "Our plans must be accelerated. Our window of opportunity is small."_

_"Say no more," answered the doctor. "I'm already on their trail."_

_As he spoke, the shadows were beginning to creep across the park._

_"Do not fail us, Facilier."_

_"You don't need to worry about it. Soon, they'll have nowhere to hide."_

* * *

"Why don't we cross the water?" Zack asked as they ran.

"They've probably electrified the fence," Aladdin panted.

"Probably? You mean there's a chance they haven't?"

"Let's not take that chance," Aladdin answered, looking straight ahead. "I think we can get to the TTS through here."

They turned right, and indeed, the station was straight ahead.

Their run went uninterrupted until they reached the conveyor-belt-esque route to the second floor, where Stitch started to catch up, shooting at them once more.

Zack was dismayed to find that there were no PeopleMover carts in the station. Aladdin seemed more alarmed at the man attending the station; he was dressed in a gray bodysuit with a visor, and carrying an assault rifle.

"_Hey!_" the man shouted, raising his gun to fire.

Elsa lifted her hand faster, conjuring a curtain of snow. The man was frozen where he stood.

Zack stepped up to the frozen man. "Wait a second...this is one of Syndrome's minions, isn't it?"

Aladdin nodded grimly.

Elsa elbowed Aladdin, pointing out of the station. A set of PeopleMover carts were on their way in.

Aladdin climbed over the console, gently moving the soldier out of the way. He squinted at a screen as he typed away on a keyboard. Whether or not there were many computers in the parks, he clearly didn't mess with them often. "I gave the PeopleMover a new destination," he said, climbing back over the console.

"That thing'll take us out of Tomorrowland?" Zack asked.

Aladdin nodded. "It stops on the outskirts of Main Street and Fantasyland," he clarified, stepping over to the boarding station where the PeopleMover had slowed down. "Get in!"

The three of them climbed up. However, as they were leaving the station, Zack noticed something else; Stitch was climbing up a support on one of the buildings that the PeopleMover stood on.

"Elsa!" Zack shouted, pointing down at him.

She responded, throwing a blast of ice down at him as the PeopleMover picked up speed.

"Did you get him?!" Zack asked, clutching the handrail of the PeopleMover.

"I'm pretty sure," Elsa said, pulling on his sleeve, "now sit down before you fall out."

Zack did as she said, allowing himself to relax slightly.

This turned out to be a terrible move.

Stitch leaped up onto the cart furthest back, three of his guns still in hand. He growled viciously, pointing them straight ahead.

Aladdin pulled Zack down to the bottom of the cart as Elsa shot several icicles at Stitch, who mouthed off fiercely in an alien language.

"We need to hop off over the river," said Aladdin. "It's our only chance of escape!"

Zack sat up slightly, getting his first close-up look at Stitch.

He was as Zack remembered him in his movie; Squat, with four arms and antennae. One of his lower arms held the other, which had a nasty cut across it. The top two carried his remaining pair of guns.

However, Zack noticed something that seemed wrong about Stitch; he was wearing a metal collar around his neck.

"Aladdin, is there an emergency break on this thing?"

"Yeah, but it's up in the front," he answered as laser fire whizzed overhead.

"Go get it, and try and stop us over the river," Zack said. "I've got an idea." Without warning, he jumped over the seat.

"Zack, no!" Aladdin shouted, leaping to his feet.

"Just - _OUCH _- trust me on this!" Zack shouted, attempting to wrestle Stitch to the ground.

Even as Aladdin started climbing his way to the front, Zack realized that he probably wouldn't be able to restrain Stitch at all. Sure, he'd dropped his remaining guns when he'd jumped on him, but the little alien was incredibly powerful; he kicked, scratched, and wormed his way out of every single attempt of Zack's to pin him.

As Zack grabbed Stitch and slammed him into the ridge of the PeopleMover cart (though he was powerful, dense, and nigh-indestructible, Stitch didn't weigh too much), he heard the squealing sounds of the emergency break. He lifted Stitch into the air, out over the side.

"Stop squirming," Zack said. "I know sink in water, and I really don't want to drop you."

Stitch stopped his struggle, but growled nastily at Zack.

The boy bent his knees and picked up one of Stitch's laser guns in his free hand. He depressed the trigger just slightly, and the tip fizzed green. "Perfect," he muttered, drawing it towards Stitch. "Don't move," he warned.

Stitch cringed as the laser approached him, but the moment it touched the steel collar, it started to melt. Immediately, Stitch went limp.

Elsa gasped. "Is he-"

"No," Zack interrupted her. "He's completely fine."

And Zack was sure that was true; under his grip, he could still feel Stitch's racing heartbeat and his now-slower breathing. He set the alien down gently, touched the laser to the other side of his collar, and pulled it apart and off his neck.

"Hey, Al!" he called towards the front. "Release the break, let's get going!"

In the front, Aladdin nodded and bent over, presumably to release the emergency break.

Zack waited, wondering for a dreadful moment whether the PeopleMover would start back up at all. However, sure enough, it started again, beginning to gather its previous speed as they rode off towards Main Street.


	7. Misadventureland

_Author's note:_

_Wow, what an absence! Very sorry about the whole "no new chapter for a month" thing. I don't think it's likely to happen again. To make up for it, this chapter is about as long as the last one. :)_

* * *

**Chapter 7:**

When the PeopleMover stopped at its Main Street station (on the outside of the last building on the right), the team got out immediately, Zack carrying Stitch in his arms as though he were a baby that could burst into tantrum at any second. They climbed down the fire escape, starting to run back towards the castle.

"What do we do now?" Zack asked.

"We should get back to the castle and start over," Aladdin said.

"I don't think so," Elsa said. "What we need to do is make sure that the others don't risk their lives trying to find us in Tomorrowland."

"Speak of the devil," Zack said. "They're already looking." He lifted a free arm to point at the very bridge that he, Aladdin and Elsa had crossed to get to Tomorrowland. "Hey, guys!" he shouted, turning his pointing into a wave. "Over here!"

Linda tapped on Sora's shoulder, the latter having been about to throw his keyblade at the force field projector to see if he could hit it.

The two teams ran up to each other, meeting each other halfway.

"Hey, you guys are still alive!" Linda shouted. "Same goes for us. I think this calls for a celebration!"

"Shh!" Aladdin warned, jerking his head at Zack, who still held an unconscious Stitch.

"Aw, isn't he just precious," Linda whispered, bending over to get a good look at him.

"He tried to kill us," Zack said. "With these," he added, pulling one of Stitch's guns out of his pocket.

"Ah," Linda said, drawing back slightly.

"Don't worry," Zack said. "He was wearing some sort of collar."

"Mind control," Elsa added. "Believe me. I have experience."

"Yeah. Anyway, we broke it off, (that seemed to knocked him out) and he hasn't woken up yet."

"Oh," was all Linda had to say.

"That's not good." Sora said. "Believe me. I have experience. With comatose people, I mean."

As Sora said this, however, Stitch stirred and whined slightly, like a dog having a bad dream.

"Anyway, we should head back to the castle. We'll fill you guys in on the way, alright?"

"Sounds good to me," said a small, sandy haired boy standing next to Peter Pan.

"Great. Let's-" Zack paused. "You must be the newcomer, right?" he asked, looking down at him.

"That's me," the boy said.

"Great. I'm Zack," Zack said, offering him his free hand.

He shook it. "Dylan. Nice to meet you."

"Alright, great. _Now_ we can go."

* * *

As Zack had promised, they filled each other in on the way back to the castle.

"So, let me get this straight," Peter said. "When you got to Tomorrowland, you got attacked by Stitch, the electric umbrella on the bridge had been used as a barrier, and one of Syndrome's minions was working the PeopleMover station?"

"Exactly," Aladdin said. "And, correct me if I'm wrong, but did you say _Dr. Facilier_ had beaten you to finding Dylan, and if it weren't for Sora and Linda-"

"Mostly Sora," Linda interrupted.

"-you wouldn't have escaped with your lives?" Aladdin finished, as though Linda hadn't spoken at all.

"Well, I don't know about our _lives,_ but maybe a couple of limbs..."

Zack started to tune them out after a moment, instead looking around to admire the place. He hadn't done this at the Magic Kingdom for a long time; after a while it became a usual place to him, and it didn't seem like anything new to him even after his family took a break for years after his sister was born. Now, though, after the confusion of landing in this new world (and the mortal terror from encountering Stitch) had subsided, a sense of wonder had filled him.

Like most places near Orlando, there were rarely a lot of stars out over the Magic Kingdom. Now, however, it was very obvious that there was almost no light pollution. The sky appeared to be a literal sea of stars. Between the cul-de-sac in front of the castle and the sky itself, from Zack's point of view, was a garden. The grassy hills were elevated from the ground by a low wall, and box shaped trees grew here and there on top of it.

"D'you think they have to cut them like that?" Linda spoke up from beside him.

Zack realized that he (and apparently Linda) had lagged behind the group.

He squinted at the trees for a moment. "I think they just grow that way."

"Hmm," Linda said. "They look a little like the trees from Sleeping Beauty, don't they?"

"I don't know," Zack admitted. "I've never seen it."

"It's an okay film," Linda said. "I think it's mostly just pretty, and not much else."

"I disagree," said Dylan, from behind.

"Whoa," Linda said. "I didn't even realize you were back there, man."

"I get that a lot," Dylan said dryly.

"Really?" Linda asked. "Well, why do you disagree? What do you think that movie had that made it great?"

"Maleficent," Dylan responded without hesitation.

"Yeah? Well," Linda said. "I think she's a great villain in an otherwise bland movie."

"That's not what I think," Zack said in a dull voice. "I think that you'll like her a lot less soon."

"What?" Dylan asked. "Why?"

"Because we'll probably meet her tonight."

Zack was met by a confused silence.

"Think about it, though," Zack said. "Everyone thinks there's a group of villains with a plan. We've outright met two villains tonight, and we've seen evidence of another."

"You're right," Linda said. "I bet she's the leader."

"Huh?" Dylan looked puzzled.

"She's always in charge of the villains. Kingdom Hearts, Fantasmic, you name it."

"I don't understand."

"Well, listen. There have been plenty of crossovers between-"

"Could you guys do this later?" Zack broke in as they entered the castle.

They stepped back into the entrance hall once more. Dylan stared around in amazement. "This is incredible," he said.

"I know, right?" Linda was looking up at the huge chandelier in the center of the room as though she'd missed it last time.

Sora turned to Zack and held out his hands. "I'll take Stitch for you," he offered.

"Okay," Zack muttered, giving the little alien to Sora.

"Alright, you guys, listen up," Aladdin said. "We're gonna head upstairs and think about what we're going to do next. It won't take long."

"In the meantime," Peter added, "have a look around!"

Elsa, Sora, Peter and Aladdin all started walking towards the nearest flight of stairs.

"Hold on," Dylan said. "Isn't there anywhere we shouldn't go, or something?"

"Use your common sense!" Peter shouted back.

* * *

It didn't take long for Linda to get a crazy idea. The second the others were out of sight, she darted for a door marked STORAGE. "Come along!" she urged the others.

"Okay, hold the phone," Dylan said. "Of all the places we probably shouldn't go, this is most likely the worst choice."

"What's gonna happen?" Linda asked. "The worst it could be is a bunch of folders and filing cabinets."

Dylan didn't follow until Zack started chasing after her.

When the entered the room, they found that it was full of boxes; a few of which were opened. None of them seemed properly packed.

"Whoa, look at that!" Linda said, walking over to a box marked SHIP TO HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS. She pulled out a metal, convex disc painted in red, white, and blue.

"Is that Captain America's shield?" Dylan asked.

"Sure is!" Linda said, putting it back in the box. "And- what's this?" she asked, pulling out what looked to be simply a white glove. She slipped it on her left hand and stretched her fingers out. "I don't think it's _anything_ special."

"Linda, come on," Dylan said. "If someone finds us here, they'll think we're up to something shady."

"Yeah, well," Linda said, "They just dumped us here to wait for them. We oughta do something, right?"

Zack had started tuning them out again in favor of looking around the room. For some reason, he felt drawn to a wardrobe at the other end of the hall. He started walking towards it, unaware of Dylan and Linda's arguing.

Linda spoke to him as he put his hand on the doorknob. "What do you think, Zack?"

"About what?" Zack asked absentmindedly, opening the door. There was nothing but several rows of clothing, all different sizes but identical in every other respect; white button-down shirts, black tailcoats, and a great deal of dust.

"Do you think we should go catch up with the others? I know _I _wanna know what they're doing."

"Just a minute," Zack said, standing on his toes to get a better look at the upper shelf. There was nothing but a lone magician's hat and a tie.

"Hey, you guys!" shouted another voice, startling Zack.

He turned around, just to find it was Peter Pan.

"Oh," Dylan said. "You've come to a decision?"

"Yep," Peter answered cheerfully. "The four of us are going to Adventureland. Elsa, Aladdin and Sora are going up to Fantasyland."

"What for?" Linda asked.

"A few reasons. We're gonna meet Jack Sparrow and see if he can help us. Those guys are going to, uh...what's the word? In-terrorize Gaston?"

"Interrogate," Zack corrected.

"Right. That's what they said. I think they want to find out where this unsavory crew are making their plans."

"But..." Linda said, "aren't they in Tomorrowland?"

"Not if our eyewitness is telling the truth," Peter answered. "Pinocchio told me personally. He saw Hades and, wouldn'tcha know it, _Jafar_ headed towards the west corner of the park."

"Great idea," Linda said, "trust the guy with a built-in lie-detector."

Peter did little more than blink at this statement.

"What?" Linda asked. "I'm being totally serious. So, Adventureland?"

"Adventureland," Peter repeated.

* * *

They left in a hurry, not willing to waste any time. Linda had attempted to sneak Captain America's shield out, but it was far to large to not attract attention.

"Don't worry," Peter said, trying to persuade Linda to put it back. "We're not going to need any weapons or anything."

"Says the guy carrying the knife," Linda had rebuked (to no avail).

They passed over a bridge on the west side of Main Street, and through a pair of open wood gates.

Though the rest of the park had been somewhat warm (as summer nights are to be), Adventureland was more or less a jungle; a hot, muggy one at that. Biting midges (or "No-see-ums," as Linda called them) and mosquitoes were just part of the vast population of bugs that bit, stung, and sucked blood.

However, they weren't under the cover of the trees for very long, as the path that Peter, Dylan, Zack, and Linda took opened out into a river port. A lamppost with a sign hanging off of it declared it "Tortuga."

It fit Zack's memory of it from _Pirates of the Caribbean_, both the ride and the movie. Everywhere there seemed to be pirates (men and women alike), laughing, brawling, and drinking.

"Where do we find Jack?" Dylan asked.

"Well, obviously, he'll be the center of attention wherever he is," Linda said. "We won't have to look very far."

Even as she said this, loud yelling and jeering came from the largest tavern down the street. The quartet stopped and watched as Jack Sparrow himself was punted straight out the front door. He stumbled to his feet and started running down the lane, fleeing the scene before anyone from inside could see where he'd gone.

The four of them exchanged looks before running down after him.

They found Captain Sparrow by a shipwreck that was inexplicably beached almost a quarter-mile away from the river.

He looked up from staring at his knees. "Ah," he said, "it's you."

"Captain Jack Sparrow," Peter said, with what sounded to Zack like a grain of respect. "Any luck with that map?"

"Well," Jack said, "it was less a map than a key to solving a puzzle. Here's the problem, though. I got into a bit of an argument with a somewhat disagreeable man in there. Now, it just so happens that said disagreeable man was part of my current crew, and it turns out that the rest of my current crew happened to agree with him. It came to my understanding that they didn't like the way I was handling the whole situation when they decided to take my little cheat sheet and throw me out in the dirt. Now, though, they don't know where to find said puzzle-" Jack shrugged. "-but that's none of my business anymore, is it?"

Peter nodded slowly, as if he understood exactly what Jack had been through. Zack certainly didn't, but he had a good idea of how he must feel.

"So what brings you to find me in this _pitiful_ state?" Jack asked, making a sweeping gesture with his arms.

"Well, we were gonna ask if you and your crew wanted to help prevent a disaster," Peter said, "but now we wanna know if you want to help prevent a disaster."

"Well, that all depends on the variables, doesn't it?" Sparrow responded. "On one hand, you've got..."

Zack found himself distracted once more, now by something a little bit sinister. First of all, he felt a cold prickle on the back of his neck, despite the heat of Adventureland. Second, a shadow had just streaked across the ground, going around behind the shipwreck. If Zack hadn't looked to the sky and seen nothing, he'd have thought that a bird had cast it by the light of the moon.

He walked over, around the corner. "Uh, guys?" he called.

Only Dylan seemed to notice, walking over with a puzzled look on his face. "What is it?" he asked.

"I think I saw something over here," Zack said, pointing. "It went around the other side, and I didn't want to look without someone else."

Dylan shrugged. "Alright. Let's see."

Just as they started walking again, though, something large jumped in front of them. It resembled a horrific cross between a human and a hermit crab, and the tattered clothes it wore reflected those of a pirate, as well as the sword in the monster's hand.

Zack and Dylan recoiled immediately, first stumbling back, then running for the others.

Unfortunately, more of these monsters had jumped out, as well as a mixture of normal-looking pirates. They'd been ambushed.

Jack jumped up to attention, pulled out a flintlock, and shot an approaching monster. This only served to slow the monster down, but Jack wasted no time in taking the empty pistol and hitting it hard across the face.

Meanwhile, Linda brawled with a pirate, catching his sword arm and twisting it. He dropped the sword and, picking it up in the same movement, Linda kicked him into the next pirate running at them.

Peter began to take flight, soaring out over the crow's nest of the shipwreck, but then he heard a taunting voice.

"Runnin' away from ye friends, are ye, Pan?"

It wasn't the question that made Peter (who'd been about to dive-bomb several pirates), it was the voice; it belonged to Captain Hook.

Without a word, he turned and dove for the crow's nest, landing right in front of Hook. His dagger met the pirate's sword so fast that sparks flew. "Hiding far above the battle, codfish?" he retorted.

As a duel began above and the battle raged on, Zack grabbed Dylan by the wrist and pulled him through a crawl space of a hole in the ship.

"What are you doing?" Dylan asked, sounding panicked.

"Getting us to safety and them help," Zack answered. "The town isn't far. We'll jump into the forest and go find someone."

Dylan protested as they climbed up the steps to the deck of the shipwreck. "We can't even know that anyone will help!"

"Then we'll just have to find a couple swords and a few pistols, and-" Zack cut himself off as the cold augmented, spreading from the back of his neck to his chest and head. He stopped, closed his eyes, and shook his head.

He realized that Dylan had stopped completely too, and when he looked up, he knew why.

There was someone standing before them. A tall woman, wearing completely black robes and a horned headdress that concealed most of her head. Her sharp face was a sickly green, the same as her hands.

"Maleficent," Dylan muttered.

Zack grabbed him again and pushed past the witch, knocking her off balance. They ran about a few feet before they were stopped by a sword at their throats. It was Davy Jones, his most prominent feature being his squid for a head. Zack wasn't sure if he smelled of brine and rotting wood or if that was just another sensation he seemed to have.

"And where," Jones said, in his unique, plodding way of speaking, "do you think you'll be heading?"

Zack stuttered incoherently as Maleficent walked over to the small confrontation. "I do believe we've gotten off on the wrong foot," she said in a voice that, though it obviously meant to be welcoming, came off as chilly.

"Don't play games," Dylan said angrily, though there was a tremor in his voice. "We know who you are."

"So it would seem," Maleficent responded. "You must be tired, running around at this time of night."

"You would think," Dylan responded, some of the tremor disappearing. Zack really couldn't help but admire his confidence at this point.

Maleficent rolled her eyes, as if she didn't have time for a confrontation like this. "Very well," she said, flicking her hand.

Immediately, Zack felt every last ounce of energy leave his body. He couldn't even try to fight it; he fell asleep almost the second he hit the deck.


End file.
